Eye of the Hurricane
by DatMoonGamer
Summary: [major WIP!] Fanfiction isn't letting me post the original summary, so have the stub instead: A HiveWing and a SilkWing. One's a loyal solider and the latter is a mute drone. Takes place during the aftermath of TLC, eventual slash. Warning! It's about OCs, so if you came here looking for canon characters, nOPE
1. The Real Summary

Vepsa was always the good worker, the stoic guard, the loyal HiveWing. He was generally high up within the social hierarchy. All that changes when his sister hires a new drone.

Taupe didn't know what to expect after he completed his Metamorphosis. Being mute, his family had often worried about what job he would get to assigned to after he grew his wings. When his mistress's brother comes over for a visit, he was expected to play the docile servant. Nothing could've prepared him for the events that happened afterwards.

A SilkWing and a HiveWing, thrown together under atypical circumstances. What could possibly go wrong?


	2. Find Them

Vespa normally didn't have any issue with his day-to-day life. Wake up, eat breakfast, guard the flamesilks for a few hours, take a short reprise, flit around the Hive, eat dinner, guard some more, and go to sleep.

There was the occasional LeafWing sighting, which triggered an automatic sweepdown of the entire continent, but other than that, nothing extraordinary.

It's not that Vespa disliked variation. It's just that whenever something, anything out of order happened, his whole life gets flipped upside down. A single action sends ripples of change, affecting his whole future, which in turn created more ripples that affected everyone around him.

A single accident is all it takes to claim a life.

"Vespa? Hellooo? Are you in there?"

Vepsa blinked, his claws curling in. Sandfly's yellow face was inches away from his own.

Yelping a little bit, he scooted away from her. "Don't do that!" he complained. Amber, who was sitting slightly to his left, grinned. "You vanish into your head like that _all_ the time." she shot back. "What if there was a jailbreak, what would you do then?" The other HiveWings chuckled a little, but the smile slipped off his face.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I should stop doing that." Vespa gripped the spear tighter in his talons, examining the SilkWings. Sandfly shot him a concerned look, but they resumed their vigil over the prisoners.

The new arrival (Blue, he remembered), was building a small pyramid out of pebbles. Watching him, Vespa couldn't help but feel pitying. Snatched from the life that he knew and having it all shattered into pieces. And even after all that, there was no guarantee that the dragonet would be a flamesilk. The metallic-colored figure sighed and knocked over the pyramid with his tail. He wandered over to a caterpillar-green SilkWing.

Suppressing a yawn, Vespa glanced at their commander. What time was it? Surely his post would be over soon. Just as he was about to ask, a roar jolted his attention back to the flamesilks.

"GUARDS!" Admiral- the one that wrote letters to the queen- howled. "GUARDS! Listen!" "Stop annoying the guards!" an orange SilkWing shouted. "They don't want to hear your thoughts on potassium at this hour! Or ever!"

"It's not that!" Admiral yelled back. Vespa groaned, sharing a look with the other guards. "What now?" he hissed. Amber rolled her eyes. "I have _no idea_ but if they continue to squabble at _ungodly_ hours of the night-"

"GUAAAAAAARDS!" the aquamarine dragon bellowed. Sighing deeply, Vespa plugged his ears with his talons and shielded his face with his wings. "By Clearsight, I'm going to go over there and rip all their tongues off if they keep that up." Sandfly spat.

Something ticked in the back of Vespa's mind. A warning. Dragging his attention back to the pandemonium, he closely observed the flamesilks, the thing in his head really flapping now. The two dragonets were missing. "Guys!" he roared. Eyes sweeping the room, he spotted a large hole that was decidedly not there a few minutes earlier.

Leaping off the stalagmite he was sitting on, Vepsa barreled through the tunnel, stingers sliding from his talons. Dirt walls, dirt floor flashed by as he ran."By the forest, all of you stop being sickening and run!" someone shouted from up ahead. _By the forest? What dragon_ says _that?_ He shook his head. _No time to think about odd sayings, Ves, just get the flamesilks or Queen Wasp will be having your head for dinner!_

As the tunnel narrowed, Vespa was finding it harder to sprint. His wings brushed against the walls, eventually bringing his progress to a halt. Grunting, he twisted from side to side, trying to free himself. After a while, he went limp, admitting to himself that he was stuck. He could hear the echoes of voices up ahead, but he couldn't get to them. Sliding his stingers back into his claws, he began to dig himself out.

Later that night (Morning? It was so late, he couldn't tell), Vespa grabbed the jar of plant stimulator, seeking to give himself a little pick-me-up after the events at work. Twisting the cap slightly, he inhaled the green fumes that spiraled out. (A/N: When Swordtail had some of this stimulator, he went nuts so I'm assuming this is some kind of dragon weed xD) Instantly he relaxed, and he put the jar away.

Breathing deeply to clear the last tendrils of gas, he examined his mud-caked talons.

Golden scales, layered across black claws, with that odd, silvery-brown freckle on his left wrist. The gold fades into obsidian along his arm, and washes out to the rest of his body, with star-like scatterings of gilt along his spine, wings, and around his eyes.

Vespa stands up, his head fuzzy with stimulant, and stumbles into his bedroom, stopping to scoop a talonful of water. He rubs the dirt off, letting the bright colors shine through.

Dragons often joked that being completely black and having this uncanny ability to know when something was about to happen, he was a direct descendant of Clearsight. And it's true, he really was. Technically, all HiveWings were descendants of Clearsight, but his family was more closely related than most others.

And that was why Vespa was berating himself for not stopping the escapees. He should've noticed that the wingless dragonet seemed to be talking quietly to the wall. Or that the letter flamesilk was trying to warn them. But no, him and his judgemental brain going on about "Aargh, SilkWings are so annoying" got in the way, and quite possibly, in a few days, the entire Hive would be burnt to the ground (not really, his "6th sense" would let him know if anything like that would happen).

Curling up on his bed of fur, Vespa drifted off to sleep.


	3. Four Wings

Taupe glanced at his wrists, which looked entirely ordinary. It was as if the Metamorphosis had never happened. "Well?" Ender, his sister, was watching him. "Give it a go! Shook some silk or something!" " **I don't know how to,** " he signed.

Yeah, he was mute. And yeah, he had no idea how to fly, or how to use his new abilities, or what he was even supposed to do now that he was of age.

Before his Metamorphosis, nobody knew what occupation he would get assigned to. Nobody wanted a dragon who couldn't speak to work for them. At least, not most HiveWings. There were a few that liked having quiet drones. So of course, that's what he was chosen for. A drone. That's what he was now.

Twitching his antennae with annoyance, he tried again. He aimed his wrist at the silk bridge and concentrated. A single, thin strand of silk, not unlike spidersilk, drifted out. Ender snorted at the pathetic attempt.

" **Shut up, it's not like you'll pop out of your cocoon knowing what to do, either.** " he signed, his movements short. To interact with other dragons, Taupe used an ancient form of communication known as Aquatic.

It originated from the Distant Kingdoms, where Clearsight came from. Most dragons didn't believe they existed, but Taupe's dream was to fly there one day. Aquatic was supposed to be for dragons with light-up scales, but it was adjusted so that anyone could use it. Although rarely anyone knew it, since rarely anyone believed in the Distant Kingdoms. Ahem.

As for why it was called Aquatic? He didn't know. No one did. (A/N: I honestly couldn't think of a suitable name for the sign language, but I'm assuming Clearsight taught the Pantalan dragons about the Pyrrhian tribes, so I came up with this headcanon)

Ender slapped him with her tail. "Sure I can." she said. Taupe retaliated by unfurling his wing right in front of her snout. Flinching back slightly, she glared at him. "Oh, it's on." she snarled. They leaped at each other, teeth bared, engaging in a mock fight. A messenger chose that exact moment to walk in on them.

Taupe shot to his feet, dusting himself off. He glanced sheepishly at the new arrival. "Um. Is this a bad time?" she asked. " **No, no, it's fine.** " he quickly stated. _What a way to meet your new coworker_.

The messenger didn't react, and his hopes sank. So the SilkWing didn't know Aquatic. Thankfully, Ender replied for him. "No, we- he's ready to go."

Scooping up the bag that he packed a few hours ago, Taupe took a final look at Ender. She leaned over and squeezed his talon. " **Good luck,** " she signed, using Aquatic for his benefit. He smiled. " **You too,** " for tonight would be time for her to start her own Metamorphosis.

"Are you ready?" the messenger said, who was now in the air. Taupe nodded, letting go of Ender. He spread his wings, instinct kicking in, and he took to the skies.

Taupe's new mistress regarded him skeptically. "Ssssssso." she hissed, her voice like sand, trickling into his ears and making him feel uncomfortable. "You're the mute one?"

He nodded. Gemma, the messenger dragon, looked miffed. "You could've told me." she said. He opened his mouth, thought about this for a few moments, and closed it, instead opting to shoot her an ironic look. A pensive expression settled across her face. "Of _course_ ," she said. "So _that's_ what those weird talon and tail signals were."

Taupe smirked at Gemma, silently congratulating her in his mind. _Wow, good job, you figured it out._ He looked back at his mistress.

The HiveWing examined him. "Very well." she spoke at last, eyes flitting away from the tawny-colored scales. She tossed him a box that he fumbled to catch, taken by surprise. "My brother is visiting today, clear up the dining room and make it snappy."

Taupe gripped the box tightly, nodded once, and plodded out the room. Getting assigned to a job wasn't at all like he had expected, he mused. He had always known that the descendants of Clearsight were normally harsh on their drones, but he hadn't guessed it would be like this.

Stupid HiveWings, they were all privileged, prejudged prats. The ones he had met all looked down their noses at him, " _Oh look at this disabled, wingless dragon! Isn't he pitiful, we should all treat him like he has the mind of a newborn dragonet._ " It made Taupe want to rip open a wall of the Hive.

Of course, if he did that, he would be stung and carted off to Misbehaver's Way. So that option was a no-go.

 _What was in this box, anyways_? Taking his mind off his treasonous thoughts, Taupe shook it lightly. The contents made a tinkling sound. _Oops. I hope I didn't break anything_. He opened it, let out a tiny gasp, the scent of spun sugar filling the air. There were intricate tiny creatures of all origins, from elephants to zebras to honey-filled bees.

 _And here I was thinking that there would be gold or treasure in this box_. Taupe thought wryly. As he was shutting the box, he rams into something hard. The sweets go flying. He scrambles for the container, knowing that he'll be too late and he'll get fired on the first day of the job-

"Woah there!" someone rumbles. Gold talons steady him, and he looks up, baffled.

An almost entirely black HiveWing looks back at him, the box in his claws. He looked to be about his age, maybe older. There were worry lines creased around his eyes, complete with speckles of gold. That, combined with the black scales, created the effect of stars in the night sky. There was an odd hardness in the stranger's expression.

"That was quite a fall you had back there." he teased. Taupe couldn't reply. He had no way of knowing whether this dragon knew Aquatic or not. But he gave it a shot. " **I know, thanks for catching the box.** "

The HiveWing didn't even miss a beat. "No problem. I take it you're the new drone?"


End file.
